It's a good place

when you're happy

truly happy

the type of joy that seems unconditional

not circumstantial, but constant

My life has transformed and morphed itself into so many ways

Forms I could have never imagined, nor dreamed if possible

Nonetheless, not all is perfect.

The are still those daily struggles:

Getting out of bed

Facing the day

Leaving some things behind

and letting go

Learning to accept some new things

Understanding what you deserve

and what your potential is

Sometimes it seems like life is a Million-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

and you try to cheat and see the whole picture

or be overwhelmed

but I don't think solving the puzzle is the challenge

Letting God direct those pieces for is.

My sister was talking to me today about "The Little Victories":

Basically, we turn to God when we're in big trouble

and it seems like there's nowhere else to turn

And when things are extremely terrific

when we have everything we want, we may finally say, "Ain't God Good?"

But how often do we really thank God for "The Little Victories"?

This Thanksgiving, my family Mother Father Sister and I, will be flying to Dallas

and last weekend me and my sister went home, and had the great weekend with our parents and cousins.

That doesn't seem like much.

It may seem like I'm bragging to want to talk about it

but I'm not

I'm just thankful

My family has had to struggle so much over the past few years

We have lost family

My Great-Grandmother

My Grandfather

We have lost finances

Losing Jobs

Filing for Bankruptcy

Almost losing our house

We even struggles within our relationships with each other

Through it all, we have had to fight

to pray

to remember God is in control of it all

and it's not easy

When the weight of the world feels like it's upon your shoulders

it easy to forget how light your heart is with the Joy of God

and we get distracted

confused

We forget that everything has a purpose, everything plays a part in the picture

of the big Jigsaw Puzzle of life

That's the devil's job:

to distract us

to make us forget our purpose to serve the lord

to attack what he feels is a threat

My family is a threat

My parents have been married for 26 years.

My sister and I are both in college.

None of us are on drugs.

None of us are our being promiscuous.

My parents aren't out cheating on each other.

and most of all, We are rooted in Jesus Christ.

that's is a threat to the devil, that's is not apart of his plan of death and destruction.

When we open our hearts to Jesus, and allow him to lead us,

anytime we let Jesus help us with those Jigsaw pieces

The devil gets so angry

and he will try to attack us

Don't take being attacked

don't take being going through a storm

don't take being tempted

as a sign of weakness

take it as motivation

Motivation to make the devil even more angry

motivation to remember to let God handle your daily life.

We must remember that every storm we go through is also a test

We sometimes like to think of God as a genie

we don't pray to him out of our heart

but off of a wish list

we've all done it.

God give me greater finances

God give me a house

God give me patience

God give me a Wife

God give me a husband

God give me strength

when you do that God still doesn't ignore you though

but he won't automatically give it to you either

You ask for patience; God will give you an opportunity to be patient

That job interview you went on last week

you haven't heard back from them

and you start to hear that maybe you didn't get it

and you want the job

you feel it's for you

do you worry?

do you panic?

do you claim defeat?

or do you pray?

do you wait for God's answer?

do you practice patience?

God does that all the time,

he has a sense of humor like that.

My Family wanted, and needed strength

we needed better finances

so what did God do

God allowed us to go through a storm

and let some of those puzzles pieces to get mixed up

just to see if we'd try to find them

if we tried to fight for our family, because to be honest

we took it for granted

storms make you see things like that

My father lost his job,

and my mother being a new teacher

didn't have a Job for a few months

but they found odd jobs

they made a way

My family had fights

we struggled so much with our differences

with our growing pains

but we had God to hold on to.

God was giving us an opportunity to gain strength

to lead up to our better finances

and appreciate them.

It was not easy for us

it's easy for no man

but you have to hold on

and allow God to lead you

you have to obey him

Obey is a hard word for anybody

it's almost like a curse word

we are taught to obey

and it seems more like a chore

than an helpful tool

but that's exactly what it is

We have to obey the Lord Jesus

because he can't lead us

if we don't open our eyes to see the directions

We had to learn to obey the Lord as a whole

from the head to the tail

and fast forward one year later

here were are:

My Sister and I coming home to spend a weekend with our family

a peaceful weekend

a joyous occasion

and we have the money to fly

to Thanksgiving in Dallas

and spend more time with our family

another joyous occasion

God brought us out of that storm.

That is an obvious fact, but do we take in to account:

God gave us the strength and finances we were praying so hard for?

We have a bond that has grown so strong in only one year?

By allowing God to take control of our lives, our lives have transformed,

morphed more than we ever could have imagined, and through the storm

we have become better individually and better as a whole?

Yes, there will be hard times; yes, there will be struggles,

but God brought us through this one.

We must continue to allow him to lead us

to help us place the pieces

in the jigsaw of life.

We must also remember to thank him for "The Little Victories"

"The Little Victories" are more precious than anything this earth could give us

and most importantly, they are the things we never think to pray for.

They are God's daily gift to is: Waking up, breathing, functioning, enjoying life.

God wants us to enjoy life.

God wants us to be happy, and learn to accept that happiness.

Life is not about struggling and storms, but God allows us to go through them

so we can learn

and become better

and truly enjoy "The Little Victories"

P.S. this one is dedicated to Datiska, Barry, and Carol!